Refund Policy

Last Updated: August 18, 2026

1. Scope

ShifaNext sells online medical consultations — a service, not a physical product. Nothing is shipped, so there are no returns, no exchanges, and no restocking fees. This policy sets out the only thing that applies: when your consultation fee is refunded, and how.

Consultation fees are charged upfront at the time of booking. This policy is the “published refund policy” referred to in our Terms & Conditions.

2. Cancelling Before Your Consultation

You may cancel a booked consultation at any time before it begins, and you will be refunded in full. There is no cancellation window and no cancellation fee.

Cancel from the appointment in the app. The refund is issued automatically — you do not need to contact us. Once a consultation has started, it can no longer be cancelled, and section 4 applies instead.

3. When We Refund You Automatically

In these cases you do not have to ask, and you do not have to chase us. The refund is triggered by our systems:

  • The doctor does not attend. If your doctor fails to join, you are refunded in full.
  • The consultation cannot take place because of a fault on our side or the doctor’s side — including a technical failure that prevents the call from connecting.
  • The doctor cancels. You are refunded in full and, where possible, helped to rebook.
  • Payment never completed. If you leave checkout without paying, the booking is released and any authorisation on your card is voided. You are not charged.

4. Consultations Cut Short

If your consultation connected but ended much earlier than it should have — the doctor dropped off, the connection failed partway, or you were not able to complete what you called about — you can request a refund under section 5. We review these individually and refund in full where the consultation clearly did not deliver what you paid for.

Call length is measured from the moment both you and the doctor are actually connected, not from your scheduled start time, so time spent waiting for the doctor to join is never counted as consultation time.

5. Requesting a Refund After a Consultation

If something went wrong with a consultation that did take place, you can request a refund from the consultation screen in the app. We deliberately hold the doctor’s payment for a short period after every consultation so that genuine problems can be resolved before any money is paid out.

The window: requests must be filed within 2 business days of the consultation being completed.

Rating closes the window early: if you rate the consultation, you confirm it went ahead as expected and the doctor is paid out immediately. Raise any problem before you leave a rating.

Every request is reviewed by our team. We will tell you the outcome in the app. A request may be declined where the consultation was delivered as described — a refund is not available simply because you disagree with the medical opinion you received.

6. If You Do Not Attend

If you do not join a consultation you booked and did not cancel beforehand, the doctor has still reserved and held that time for you. These bookings are not automatically refundable. If you missed the appointment for a reason you would like us to consider, contact us within 2 business days and we will review it.

7. How Refunds Are Paid

  • Refunds are returned to the original payment method used for the booking, through our payment processor. We cannot redirect a refund to a different card, wallet, or bank account.
  • We issue approved refunds within 2 business days of approval.
  • Your bank or wallet provider then takes its own time to post the amount — typically 5 to 10 working days. This part is outside our control.
  • Refunds are made in Pakistani Rupees (PKR) for the amount charged. We do not deduct a processing fee from your refund.
  • We do not issue cash refunds or store credit.

8. Prescriptions and Completed Care

A refund covers the consultation fee only. Where a consultation took place and a prescription was issued, the prescription remains a valid medical record and is retained regardless of any refund, as described in our Privacy Policy.

9. Chargebacks

If you believe a charge is wrong, please contact us before raising a dispute with your bank. We can almost always resolve it faster directly, and a chargeback filed while a refund is already in progress can delay your money rather than speed it up.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy. The version published on this page at the time of your booking is the one that applies to that booking. Where a change materially affects your right to a refund, we will bring it to your attention before it takes effect.

11. Contact Us

For anything to do with a refund, a charge you do not recognise, or a consultation that went wrong:

Contact us →